Regional Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival at Ithaca College

The Ithaca College School of Music presents:

Regional Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival at Ithaca College

Festival Date: Saturday, February 14, 2015

Jazz Directors:

It is my pleasure to announce that the Ithaca College School of Music will be partnering with Jazz at Lincoln Center to present our first annual Regional Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival at Ithaca College, to be held on Saturday, February 14, 2015. The festival, running from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., will be non-competitive and education focused, although several outstanding soloist awards will be given. Students will also have opportunities to win scholarships to the Ithaca College Summer Music Academy. The festival will be adjudicated by both Essentially Ellington and Ithaca College jazz faculty.

Participating school jazz bands will perform for each other, receive professional feedback from the adjudicators, and participate in jazz workshops, all on the Ithaca College Campus. Performance slots begin at 10 a.m. and will run throughout the morning and afternoon. The day will culminate with a 7 p.m. performance by the Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble, along with outstanding soloists chosen from the participating school bands. Directors will be provided lunch, and will eat together along with EE representatives and adjudicators.

Registration for the festival is $100 per ensemble and can be completed online here. Dining options for students will be available throughout the day.

All high school ensembles participating in the festival are required to be members of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2014-2015 Essentially Ellington program. By joining the free program, directors will receive seven original Duke Ellington Orchestra transcriptions, as well as access to reference recordings, a revolutionary interactive music player featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, teaching guides, newsletters, and other resources. For questions about the Essentially Ellington program contact Maegan McHugh at (212) 258-9810 or ee@jalc.org.

Bands should plan on performing no more than 25 minutes of music. At least one piece must be from either the current repertoire or previous titles in the Essentially Ellington library.

Bands must provide clinicians with the following information:

Listing of the compositions and composers

The soloists’ names and instruments for each selection

The entire personnel for the band, including grade in school and instrument. If possible designate lead players so that we might be in a better position to identify students should they be considered for an award.

We look forward to hearing your band!

Sincerely,

Mike Titlebaum
Director of Jazz Studies
Ithaca College School of Music
(607) 274-1283 | mtitlebaum@ithaca.edu